Species details: Click on each item to see an explanation of that item (Note: opens a new window)

Small to medium-sized. Bark grey-brown to dark brown, smooth. Stems fluted and buttressed in older specimens. Leaves alternate oblong-elliptis or rarely ovate, 4-13 cm long, 3-5-veined from the base, pointed at the apex, hairless except for small tufts in the domatia in the axils of the veins beneath; margin entire but wavy; petiole up to 3 cm long, thickened at both ends. Flowers unisexual on different trees. Male flowers creamy-white, in spikes up to 23 cm long; female flowers creamy-green with petals c. 4 mm long, in more sparsely-flowered spikes up to 19 cm long. Fruit a small woody capsule, 3-lobed, 1-1.5 cm long, greenish, velvety and sometimes prickly.